The Art of Living
by brookemopolitan
Summary: "The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children."-Elaine Heffner. Kate and her daughter spend a day at the library. Family cuteness (and a dash of Harry Potter) abounds. Blissfully spoilerfree kid!fic. (ties into the Olive universe...but can be read independently)


**This was actually a prompt I gave AnniexMuller (a day at the library), who then insisted that it was more my style and I should make something of it. So I did... This fic is an extension of Something Suddenly Has Begun (a pregnancy fic I wrote earlier this year). It isn't strictly necessary to have read that fic first (I think this stands well quite on its own), but I'm not stopping you. All you need to know is that Kate and Castle had a little girl named Olive :). Those who HAVE read Olive, you'll see a few little shout outs here. **

**Many thanks to Em and Ky, who both beta-ed like total ninjas (and for child realism, Ky :P)**

**Disclaimer: I wrote this because I'm about 100% sure the finale is going to emotionally cripple me. Read between the lines, man. I also don't own Harry Potter (waaaah)**

* * *

Kate woke up to the feeling of cold toes against her leg. They were way too tiny to be her husband's, sneaking into bed after a night spent writing. There was only one person who it could be. She rolled over and stretched, opening her eyes to see a mischievous little face lying on the pillow next to her, a cheeky little grin hidden from view by the thick comforter.

"Good morning Olive," Kate breathed, running a hand over her face to clear the sleep from her eyes.

"Morning, Mom," Olive chirped back, wriggling over to curl up against her mother. Kate loved mornings like these. Her daughter had been a snuggler since the moment she was born, as dopey as her father was when he first woke up and she took full advantage of any chance she got to lie in bed and do nothing with her baby girl.

"Where's Daddy?" Olive asked eventually.

"He's got some work stuff to do today," Kate replied, gently twirling one of Olive's curls around her finger.

"Oh," Olive replied quietly. "Do you have to go catch the bad guys today, Momma?"

"Nope," Kate answered. "You've got me all to yourself today." Without warning, she sprang up and traced her fingers up Olive's ribcage, eliciting giggles from the little girl. After several moments of tickling, punctuated by "Momma! Stop it!" Kate finally showed some mercy, blowing a raspberry on Olive's neck before smacking a kiss on her cheek. "What do you think, baby? Do you want to have a day hanging out with me?"

Olive pondered, studying Kate with the wide blue eyes that marked her so clearly as a Castle. "That sounds fun. But we need breakfast first."

"That we do," Kate agreed. She rolled over, letting out a soft grunt when she rolled onto something cold and plastic. She reached behind her and held up Olive's favourite doll.

"Sorry," Olive said sheepishly, grabbing the toy off her. Nikki Doll had been quite a point of contention in the Castle household. There had been a line of Nikki Heat action figures sold through comic book stores for the truly hard-core Castle fans. Kate had hated the idea instantly, mildly disturbed by the plastic replica of herself (the weirdly emphasised boobs and strange shaped face made her shudder) and had no problems in telling Castle so. Midway through the conversation, four-year-old Olive had wandered into the office. She caught her father's enthusiasm for the figurine instantly, thrilled that her mommy was a dolly. Olive and Nikki Doll had been inseparable for years, much to Kate's disdain. She generally just accompanied Olive to bed, so Kate was surprised to see her out of Olive's bedroom.

"Can I help make breakfast?" Olive asked, trailing after Kate as she walked to the kitchen.

Kate hit the switch on the coffee machine. "If you want to. What do you want for breakfast?"

Olive scrunched her nose up as she thought. "Candy?" She suggested hopefully.

Kate raised an eyebrow, "Try again."

"Can we have those baby pancakes with the apple in the middle?" Olive requested.

"That we can have," Kate agreed. Olive helpfully moved around the kitchen, pulling out bowls and slipping on the Minnie Mouse apron she'd gotten from Disneyland the year before. Kate carefully tied the apron on, before Olive stepped up onto the stool, looking quite at home in the kitchen.

"Daddy taught me how to crack eggs all by myself," She announced.

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Kate told her fondly. Castle was a ridiculously good father. Olive was thriving at school; she'd been able to write the entire alphabet and was well on her way to being able to read when she started kindergarten and she'd only flourished since. Kate routinely came home to the loft being turned into a mini art gallery and Olive and Castle regularly visited the precinct with baked goods which Olive took great pleasure in taking around to each and every cop, blinking at them with wide blue eyes, often being rewarded with whatever treat they had hidden in their desks.

Under Kate's instruction, Olive carefully sifted flour and sugar, before helping mix in milk, eggs (which were indeed cracked by Olive and there was not one shell to be found in the mix) and apple puree. "I have to cook them, Olive. I don't want you to burn yourself," Kate warned her.

"Dad says I have to sit on the bench and not wriggle," Olive agreed seriously. Kate lifted the little girl to the bench, before turning her attention to the skillet. Pouring some batter onto the pan, she turned back to her daughter. "You know, Granny Jo and I used to cook like this when I was a little girl," Kate commented.

"But not Grandpa?" Olive asked. She'd been raised in a household where Daddy did everything Mommy did (except kill cockroaches), so Kate figured it was no surprise Olive would expect that her Grandpa would cook.

"Not Grandpa," Kate confirmed. "Granny used to let him sleep late on Sundays. By the time he woke up the cooking was already done," Kate explained, delicately skating over the fact that her father could probably burn water if he really tried.

"That sounds fun," Olive agreed. "Maybe we should do that for Daddy. That way we can be like you and your Mom."

Kate flipped over the pancakes before darting over to kiss her daughter on the cheek. She'd been so worried that Olive would be spoilt, unsure of how to balance providing the little girl with all she needed without falling prey to their affluence, but she was delighted to say that her daughter was a sweet, kind hearted little thing, well-mannered and polite. "We can do it next week."

* * *

Olive sat on her chair at the table, munching on apple mini pancakes, completely unaware of the cream on the tip of her nose. "What are we going to do today?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kate replied. "I spoke to Aunt Lanie. She and Sasha want to come visit."

Sasha was the little girl that Lanie and Esposito had fostered three years ago. Soon after Olive was born, they'd agreed to start trying for a baby. They'd had a plethora of fertility issues (Espo had been affected by his years working around high density radio in the Special Forces and Lanie had a cyst on her ovaries), they'd agreed to put biological children on the backburner and explore their options. Almost as soon as they applied to be foster parents, Sasha came into their lives. She'd been removed from her biological parents care after they'd been found with a meth lab in the house and needed immediate long-term care. The Child Protection Officer in charge of their case had been Sasha Gates-Ashford. There was absolutely no doubt in Kate's mind that Victoria Gates had been at least indirectly involved in the events, but she'd never say a word to Lanie about it.

"Sashie is coming to play?" Olive gasped. "Mom! Hurry up! We need to get dressed!" Olive stood up and began to motor towards the stairs. "Mommy, can I wear the Favourite Dress?" She called over her shoulder.

"Olive, come back!" Kate called out. "First of all, you need to finish your breakfast, Missy. After that, you're going to help me in the kitchen. You have plenty of time to get ready."

* * *

Olive had dutifully helped in the kitchen, neatly placing dishes back where they belonged. After brushing her teeth, she darted up to her Minnie Mouse room and tugged on the Favourite Dress (a blue floral outfit that had once belonged to Alexis and had been worn by her until it literally couldn't zip up anymore). Kate knelt behind her daughter to zip her into the dress, smirking when she saw the tradition was continuing. Olive was a skinny little thing, but it was obvious the dress wasn't going to fit her for much longer. "I think you're getting too big for this dress, baby," Kate commented.

Olive shook her head, eyes wide when she turned towards Kate. "But I can wear it today, can't I?"

"Of course you can," Kate soothed her. "Time for hair," she added, steering Olive towards the mirror.

Olive stood obediently still as Kate ran the brush through her hair, commenting sweetly that she didn't hurt like Daddy does. "Like Matilda, Momma," she requested.

"No way! Like Matilda?" Kate teased. For her sixth birthday, Martha had taken Olive to see her very first Broadway show; _Matilda_ the Musical. Olive had been enthralled. Not only had it led to dancing classes (Castle secretly delighted that his little girl flounced around the house in tights and a tutu), but Martha was convinced it was Olive who would continue her legacy, the way she marched around singing _Naughty_ at the top of her lungs. Kate had responded by pointing out that Matilda was a book and a movie too. She and Olive had gone on a picnic in Central Park, curling up on a rug and had read the whole thing in a matter of hours. After seeing the film, Olive had started taking her styling tips from Matilda, rarely going anywhere without a ribbon in her hair. Kate had been a little stunned by the phase at first, but Castle had reassured her that it was totally fine and that Alexis had gone through a similar phase with _Annie_ at the same age.

"Matilda is the coolest. She likes books, just like me," Olive replied seriously.

Kate smiled as she tied the ribbon in her hair. "I know, baby," she replied. "I'm so glad you like books. I like them too."

"That's why Daddy writes the Nikki books for you," Olive replied. "And that's why Lexis and I get our own special stories from him for our birthdays every year. Cos stories are important."

"Did your Dad tell you that?"

"Yup. Daddy knows everything," Olive replied. She truly was Daddy's little girl. "Well, except where I hide when we play laser tag."

"That's because you listen to me when you play laser tag," Kate replied.

"And Lexis taught me," Olive admitted. She grabbed Nikki Doll from her bedside table and linked hands with Kate and tugged her towards the stairs. "When can we talk to Lexis on the computer again?"

Alexis had been living in Helsinki for the past two years, heavily involved in a project that aimed to develop green technology to be put to use to replace crude oils. Their time zones were generally completely out of whack, but Alexis was fantastic about making sure she contacted the family on a regular basis, teaching Olive to speak Finnish via Skype. "I'll send her an email and check. But I'm sure we can talk to her soon."

Olive chattered about wanting to tell Alexis all about Matilda and ballet class and a thousand other things, her babbling unfiltered the way only a six year old's can be when there was a knock at the door. "Mom, quick! It's Sashie and Aunt Lanie and I can't open the door by myself!"

Kate followed Olive to the door, making a show of checking the peephole before opening the door. She knew that there was no way Eduardo would allow just anybody to waltz up to their door, but her cop instinct screamed to make sure her daughter was well versed in how to handle Stranger Danger. "Hi Lanie. Hey Sash," she greeted them when she finally opened the door.

"Hey," Lanie replied. Sasha had barrelled straight into Olive, greeting her with a crushing hug and the pair of them had already started squealing. They were as thick as thieves, linking hands as they bolted to Olive's room, already discussing playing dress ups.

"How are you?" Kate asked, sliding Lanie a Chai Latte as they sat in the mostly quiet living room.

"I'm awesome," Lanie replied, a grin creeping all over her face. "It's official."

"What is?" Kate asked.

"We put in a request with Child Services to formally adopt Sasha. The paperwork is at Sasha Gates' office. We're going to sign today."

"Lanie, congratulations!" Kate gasped, looping an arm around her friend and squeezing. "Have you told her?"

"Nah. Javi and I are going to take her to lunch today. We'll tell her and then go and sign the paperwork. We didn't want to say anything to her until it was all official," Lanie shook her head as a single tear slipped out. "I'm so happy, Kate."

Kate recalled her own ecstasy in bringing baby Olive home. "I know the feeling," she agreed. "I can't believe we're both moms. And that our kids like each other."

"Biggest relief ever," Lanie agreed. Olive, Sasha and Kevin and Jenny's son, Killian, all got along like a house on fire, the three of them generally finding ways to cause mischief whenever they were together.

"Mommy! Look at us!" Sasha called out. "We're divas!"

"Just like Gram!" Olive added enthusiastically. Both girls had managed to wrap feather boas around their necks, dripping in glittering plastic jewellery. In addition, Sasha had added a pair of floppy dog-ears to her sparkly Tinkerbell dress and Olive had a Dorothy the Dinosaur tail paired with her tutu.

"You sure are," Kate agreed. If there was one thing Olive loved more than anything, it was playing dress up. She was constantly amused that her daughter was so unabashedly girly, but had no problems insisting that her father include zombie hunting in his bedtime stories.

"Can divas be dog nurses too?" Sasha asked Olive.

"I guess so. Divas can be whatever they want to be. Gram said so."

* * *

After dress ups had been exhausted, the girls had insisted on doing nails. Kate gently blew on her garishly glittery nails (Olive had chosen the colour and apparently she wasn't as immune to her kid's puppy dog look as she imagined).

"You ready to go, Sash? We need to go get Papi from work. We're going to go to lunch and then we need to visit Big Sasha." Lanie informed her daughter.

"Will we see Aunt Tori too?" Sasha asked, shaking her neon green nails.

"Maybe," Lanie answered. "Now, is Olive's room tidy?"

At Sasha's nod, Lanie directed Sasha to say goodbye.

After waving from the window of the loft, Olive sat down at the table to eat lunch.

"What else do you want to do today, babe?" Kate asked.

Olive pondered the question "Can we go to go to the library?" Olive asked

"Just the library?" Kate asked.

Olive nodded, her curls bobbing with the rapid movement. "Can we go to the park too?"

* * *

Olive was _so_ much like her father it shocked Kate sometimes. They sat on the subway, Olive whispering stories about the people on the carriage in Kate's ear. She'd run riot through the park; casually chatting to any kid she came across, making friends in the same easy way her father did.

Olive let out a happy little sigh when they walked into the children's section of the New York Library. "When will my school have a library like this?" she asked hopefully.

Kate gave her a small smile. "I don't think it'll ever be this big. You'll just have to make do with what you've got."

"I guess I can do that," Olive decided. "When I'm a big girl can I have a library like Belle's?"

Alexis had gotten Olive obsessed with Disney movies before she left for Finland. Kate could only admire her daughter's very lofty ambitions. "We'll see. I don't think it would fit in the loft," she pointed out.

"They just smell so good," Olive breathed. Her little fingers traced the spines of the picture books. "Momma, can we read a chapter book together?" Olive asked hopefully.

"Sure can, baby," Kate agreed. "Which one do you want?"

"Can we read one of your favourites? Daddy's is _Narnia _and we read that all the time, but I want to know what yours is," Olive requested.

"Absolutely," Kate told her. She smiled when Olive politely went up to the librarian and asked for some help to find a book.

Olive walked back up to Kate, novel clutched in her hand. "Come on. I know where the best spot is."

Kate followed her daughter to a large couch, settling down and pulling her daughter to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Olive nestled her head on Kate's shoulder, requesting that Mom hurry up and start reading.

Kate cleared her throat, _"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense…"_

* * *

They had gotten at least a quarter of the way through the book before Olive had gotten antsy from sitting still for so long, beginning to wriggle as she sat in Kate's lap. "I think it might be time to check out this book and go for a walk," Kate suggested.

_Harry Potter _safely tucked into her handbag, Kate checked her watch. "Hey Olive, do you want to go surprise Daddy at work?" she asked.

Olive turned from where she'd been amusing herself playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. "Are we playing a trick on him?"

* * *

When Castle had first started out, book signings were awesome. Small enough to actually chat to his fans and they were actually interested in his work. Now, he barely got a chance to talk to anybody, just signing and trying to ignore the giggles of the more vapid fangirls as he tried to get his wedding ring to catch the light, ducking his head back as yet another pair of fake breasts were thrust his way.

He was well and truly on autopilot now, his smile less genuine, signing books and asking the same question over and over again. "Hey there, thanks for coming," he began, grabbing the book without looking at who handed it to him. "Who can I make this out to?" The only reply he got was the tinkling of a childish giggle. Using a kid to get his attention, _that _was a new ploy. "Hey, where's your…"

Olive shot him a charming grin. "Hi Daddy," she greeted him.

Kate hung back in the line, ignoring the tut-tutting of the women surrounding her. Tossing her curls slightly, she followed Olive up onto the podium. "Hey Castle," she murmured fondly, setting down a cup of coffee on the table, pressing a kiss on his cheek.

Castle caught Paula's eye, signalling that he wanted to take a break (he'd been powering through signatures, hoping he could get out sooner rather than later).

He pulled Olive up onto his lap, "Hey Princess," he greeted her. He reached over and grabbed Kate's hand. "How are you?"

Olive immediately piped up, the events of the day bubbling out of her as she attempted to recount all they'd gotten up to.

"Sounds like you had a fun day," Castle commented, his large hand stroking Olive's back.

"It was the bestest," Olive replied.

"Best," Kate interjected quietly. "Bestest isn't a word, babe."

"The best," Olive amended quickly. "Dad, when do you finish here?"

"Soon, I hope," He answered honestly.

"That's good," Olive answered. "Because I like hanging out with you and I like hanging out with Mom, but I like it best when you both hang out with me."

Kate was well aware that as Castle was playing the cute dad, making Olive giggle as he smothered her with stubbly kisses, there were rabid fangirls with iPhones watching the proceedings. She subtly shifted so that the NYPD badge that was on her waist was more visible. "Why don't Olive and I go get some hot chocolate and wait for you and maybe we can go to Joey's for dinner?"

"Will he give me extra olives to snack on?" Olive asked. Inexplicably, Olive loved eating salty black olives, a fact that had amused Castle for years.

"Maybe if you ask him really nicely," Kate told her. "C'mon Liv. The longer we talk to Daddy, the longer we have to wait for him to finish the signing. Give him a kiss and we'll go check out the hot chocolate situation."

Olive pressed a loud kiss to Castle's cheek and stood up. Kate couldn't help herself. She could see several women in the crowd that she shamelessly labelled man-eaters and she had no problem in marking her territory. She drew Castle into a long, slow kiss, unashamedly staking her claim on her ruggedly handsome husband.

"Guys, gross," Olive whined, staring at the pair of them with unadulterated disgust. "This isn't a kissing book!" She sassed them, quoting _The Princess Bride_ with absolute fluency (she also walked around the loft shouting "inconceivable!" but that was a separate conversation).

"Come and find us afterwards, Castle," Kate drawled, linking hands with their daughter and strutting away.

"Do you think we tricked him?" Olive asked as they lined up for hot chocolate.

Kate gave her daughter a soft smile. "I think it was the last thing he was expecting."

* * *

Olive pushed away her half eaten bowl of ice cream. "I'm a stuffed Olive!" she declared, describing her full tummy in the way that Castle had taught her to since she was able to talk (she'd only recently understood the double meaning of what she was saying, but it was cute nonetheless). She smiled when the waitress came to collect their plates. "Can you please tell Mr Joey that he makes the best spaghetti ever?" She asked charmingly.

"She gets that from you," Kate muttered, eyeing Castle over the dinner table. "She could sell sand to a camel."

"What does that mean?" Olive asked.

"It just means you're extra awesome like me," Castle interjected, grabbing a napkin and wiping the ice cream off her face.

"Hey Mommy," Olive looked over at her Mom, blue eyes in full force as she fluttered her eyelashes. "Can we watch a movie when we get home? I really want to."

Kate pretended to think about it (she would have suggested it anyway, privately hoping her daughter would crash out on her the way she often did when she was little), "As long as it isn't _Matilda,_ we have a deal."

* * *

Kate never thought she'd experience this. An evening curled up on the couch, fingers linked with her husband's, sandwiching their sleepy daughter.

"This is pretty great," Kate said quietly, hoping not to disturb Olive.

"Pretty much the greatest," Castle replied. He looked over at the screen, where the credits for _The Empire Strikes Back_ (totally Olive's request) were playing.

"Okay, sweetheart, time for bed," He mumbled in her ear. Olive muttered something unintelligible as he picked her up, grunting softly at her weight. She was warm and pliant in his arms and he realised that they were fast leaving the days where he could pick up his sleep heavy daughter and move her around with ease.

Kate followed them up to Olive's bedroom. Her heart swelled as she watched the tender way Castle tucked their daughter into bed, whispering something for her ears only as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. He stood up, allowing Kate to sneak in to say her goodnights.

"I had fun today, Olive," Kate told her quietly.

"Me too," Olive agreed, arm wrapping tighter around Alexis's old Minnie Mouse, her eyes slipping shut.

"I love you to the moon and back," Kate whispered.

"I love you more than all the stars," Olive responded, her words punctuated by a yawn.

Kate stood up, carefully adjusting Nikki Doll where she sat on Olive's bedside table.

Linking her fingers with Castle's, Kate tiptoed out of the room.

"We did good with her, didn't we?" Kate asked him as the walked down the stairs.

"I thought Alexis's perfection was a fluke," Castle replied. "But she proves it. I produce superior offspring."

"Do you really think that she's all you?" Kate scoffed.

"Where else could she have gotten it from?"

* * *

**What do you think about the journey back into Olive-land? And does anybody have any thoughts about the finale?**

**Come play with me! Twitter/tumblr: brookemopolitan**

**Also- keep an eye out for my Castle ficathon fic... should be up later this month :) (very different from my usual stuff. Its going to be wicked!)**


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